A. Technical Field
The present invention relates to apparatus and methods of vibration. In particular, the present invention relates to apparatus and methods of vibration within tooling for a fuselage.
B. Technology Background
Presently, composite materials (such as fiber-reinforced plastics) are increasingly being used to manufacture aircraft. The manufacture of such aircraft with composite materials comprises the manufacture of the fuselage (the central body of the aircraft), the wings, and the various other components of the aircraft. Often the manufacture of an aircraft fuselage with composite materials comprises the use of tooling to form the shape of the fuselage. For example, in some manufacturing processes, laminate fibers are wrapped around a tooling to form the fuselage.
In some cases, internal tooling is constructed of elastomeric materials. The use of elastomeric materials provides for increased flexibility in the formation of the shape of the tooling. However, elastomeric tooling may not provide the rigidity needed during the formation of the tooling. Therefore, to solve this problem, the elastomeric tooling may be filled with a filler media, such as ceramic spheres available under the product name Macrolite, which is then held under vacuum to provide the necessary rigidity. After curing, the media is removed from the tooling.
Currently, tooling can be filled with media by using gravity. In order to compact the media, either a rubber mallet or a single-point-high-frequency vibrator may be used on the exterior of the tooling. Following formation of a structure with the tooling, a vacuum device may be used to extract the media from the tooling. However, the compaction of the media often prevents the vacuum from extracting all of the media. Therefore, the rubber mallet or the single-point-high-frequency vibrator may be used to dislodge the media to enable extraction.
The use of these methodologies, however, has proven to be inefficient in filling the tooling with media, compacting the media in the tooling, and extracting the media from the tooling. By generally acting only on a portion of the tooling, these methods affect only a small, localized area of the tooling. Thus, these methodologies must be repeated numerous times to achieve the desired result. This repetition increases the time to produce the structure as well as the labor costs.
Thus, there is a need for an apparatus that can act on more than only a localized area of the tooling. Such an apparatus would be more efficient and would also provide for smaller particle sizes of the media, leading to improved filling and extraction of the media.
Apparatus and methods consistent with the invention provide for a vibration apparatus that acts on a larger area of the tooling to affect a large portion of the media in the tooling to aid in filling the tooling with media, compacting the media in the tooling, and extracting the media from the tooling.